Edward Boatner Stitt, 2 February 1924, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, d. 22 July 1982, Washington, DC, USA. Starting out on alto saxophone, Stitt gained his early experience playing in the big bands led by Tiny Bradshaw and Billy Eckstine. Influenced by Charlie Parker and by the many fine young beboppers he encountered on the Eckstine band, Stitt quickly developed into a formid
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Gerald Joseph Mulligan, 6 April 1927, New York City, New York, USA, d. 19 January 1996, Darien, Connecticut, USA. Raised in Philadelphia, Mulligan started out on piano before concentrating on arranging. He also took up the saxophone, first the alto and a few years later the baritone. Among the name bands that used his arrangements were those led by Gene Krupa and Claude Thor
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1 September 1925, Gardena, Los Angeles, California, USA, d. 15 June 1982, Panorama City, California, USA. Pepper started out on clarinet at the age of nine, switching to alto saxophone four years later. After appearing in school groups, he first played professionally with Gus Arnheims band. During his mid-teens he developed his jazz style sitting in with otherwise all-
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Clifford Everett Shank Jnr., 27 May 1926, Dayton, Ohio, USA. After studying and gigging on most of the reed instruments, Shank concentrated on alto saxophone, later doubling on flute and baritone saxophone. From 1947 he was resident on the west coast, playing in the big bands of Charlie Barnet, Alvino Rey, Art Mooney and Stan Kenton but making his greatest impact in small gr
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13 November 1928, Los Angeles, California, USA, d. 22 May 1977, Los Angeles, California, USA. Born into a musical family (his mother played piano for the church run by his Presbyterian minister father), Hawes taught himself to play piano by listening to records of 30s jazz piano giants, among them Earl Fatha Hines and Fats Waller. He began to play professionally
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James Elbert Raney, 20 August 1927, Louisville, Kentucky, USA, d. 10 May 1995, Louisville, Kentucky, USA. After working in the New York and Chicago areas, in bands led by Jerry Wald and Lou Levy, guitarist Raney joined Woody Herman in 1948. Thereafter he played and recorded with a number of leading swing era veterans and up-and-coming stars including Artie Shaw, Stan Getz, T
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2 November 1931, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA. Woods began playing alto saxophone as a child, studied later at the Juilliard School of Music in New York and by his early 20s had already made a significant mark on jazz. Playing hard bop and acknowledging Charlie Bird Parker but never slavishly so, Woods became a vital force in jazz in the late 50s. He led his o
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Milton Rajonsky, 14 April 1924, Great Barrington, Massachusetts, USA, d. 7 November 1994, Van Nuys, California, USA. After studying in New York, Rogers played trumpet in the bands of Will Bradley, where he first met Shelly Manne, and Red Norvo. Military service interrupted his career, but in 1945 he joined Woody Herman for a spell, during which he also wrote a number of bop-
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Arthur Stewart Farmer, 21 August 1928, Council Bluffs, Iowa, USA, d. 4 October 1999, New York City, New York, USA. While still a child Farmer moved first to Phoenix, Arizona, then to Los Angeles. This was in the mid-40s, and during the next few years Farmer played trumpet in various name bands, including those led by Jay McShann and Benny Carter, and worked and recorded with
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2 March 1922, New York City, New York, USA, d. 3 November 1986, Culver City, California, USA. Davis began to make his mark on the jazz scene in his home town when he worked at Clark Monroes Uptown House in the late 30s. Despite this establishments close ties with the emergence of bebop a few years later, Davis tenor saxophone playing was rooted in swing and
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19 December 1929, Kansas City, Missouri, USA. Although he began his career as a pianist, it was when he took up the valve trombone in the early 50s that Brookmeyer began attracting serious attention. In 1953 he joined Gerry Mulligan, making numerous concert appearances and recordings, all of which demonstrated his considerable technical ability. His precise playing fitted we
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12 September 1954, Providence, Rhode Island, USA. As a child, Hamilton began playing clarinet, on which he had a few lessons, and piano. He then briefly played blues harmonica in a rock n roll band. He took up tenor saxophone as a young teenager, teaching himself largely by listening to records in his fathers collection. These records were by jazzmen of the
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5 April 1934, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, d. 12 September 2000, New York City, USA. After playing cello Turrentine took up the tenor saxophone before reaching his teenage years. Born into a musical family (his father, Thomas Turrentine, played tenor with Al Coopers Savoy Sultans, and his brother Tommy Turrentine was a proficient trumpet player), Stanley quickly beca
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